by Liz Talley
Eden laughed. “I think that’s called a tattoo.”
“Here we go,” Rosemary trilled, hurrying back into the living room. “Since we have dinner reservations at one of your boyfriend’s primo dining establishments, I wanted us to have something fancy to wear.” She handed both Jess and Eden a small wrapped box.
“You’re always doing this sort of thing, Rose. It’s too much.” Eden studied the orange polka-dotted paper covering the small box. It looked just like the paper that had covered the box Lacy had left them after she’d died. After the funeral, Sassy had brought the wrapped box from behind the counter of the Lazy Frog and placed it on their table. Inside had been the personalized letters, the charm bracelet, and the challenge that had led all three girls to new lives . . . and new loves.
“I like to buy things for the people I love,” Rosemary said as she plopped back onto the small linen-covered chair and curled her feet beneath her. “Go ahead and open them.”
“This is the paper Lacy wrapped our present in,” Jess said, still holding the gift.
“I know. I went by her parents’ house and asked if they still had it. They did.”
“Why?” Eden asked.
Rosemary gave a half smile, her gaze growing misty. “It’s been over a year since Lacy died. Our lives are so different. I’m married and living in Morning Glory, thinking about babies, and doing this whole pillow thing. And Jess is living at the beach with Hunk of the Month. And now Eden is not only living her dream on the stage, but she’s found someone who adores her as she should be. Everything Lacy wanted for us has happened. In fact, more than what she wanted for us has happened. I guess I just wanted to conclude her business here with a gesture.”
“But it’s not done,” Eden said, thrusting her pinky into the orange ribbon atop the gift and twisting. She’d been lucky that Frenchie had been fed up with Sadie’s antics and wanted Eden back. Not that the diminutive Asian woman would admit she needed anyone. Everyone at Gatsby’s, outside of Sadie, had been thrilled Eden had decided to return. And even Sadie was coming around to the thought of sharing the stage with her little sister. “Or at least the last part isn’t done.”
Rosemary smiled. “Soon it will be. I’ve made sure of that.”
“What have you done?” Jess asked.
“Nothing.” Rosemary pressed her lips together and shifted her gaze between them. They would get nothing more from their friend. Rosemary could be a pushover, but when she got that secretive look, good luck getting her to reveal anything.
Eden’s heart squeezed when she thought about her older sister. Sunny had been so unhappy, but the last time Eden had seen her, her sister had been focused on something else besides her tragic loss and empty future. Raising funds for a pet rescue had brought purpose to Sunny. Not to mention, Henry Todd Delmar seemed to have a new focus himself. Maybe, just maybe, Lacy was at work and would bring Eden’s sister the same kind of hope Eden now had. Eden didn’t believe in all that woo-woo stuff, but she couldn’t deny Rosemary’s earlier words. All three of them had found happiness.
Maybe that charm bracelet was . . . charmed.
“She’s not going to tell us anything,” Jess said to Eden before ripping open the paper.
Eden followed Jess’s lead, tearing at the paper and crumpling it into a ball. She ran her finger under the lid of the box, breaking the tape, and pulled the top off. Inside, nestled on a square of Poly-Fil, was a pearl bracelet with a small silver flower charm.
Eden looked up. “A morning glory?”
Rosemary grinned. “Well, we had to give Lacy’s bracelet away, so I thought I would replace it.”
“Pearls, of course,” Jess said with a laugh.
“Of course, dahlings.” Rosemary pulled her own matching bracelet from the pocket of her pants. “We don’t live close anymore, but I thought having a reminder of who we are would be . . . cool.”
“It’s beautiful,” Eden said, opening the clasp and fastening the bracelet. The small silver flower dangled at her wrist.
“Well, we are the girls of Morning Glory no matter where we live, right?” Jess asked, holding her hand aloft and smiling softly at her bracelet.
“Damn right we are,” Rosemary said.
Tears glossed Eden’s eyes, but she blinked them away because she didn’t want to get maudlin when they had reservations at Du Parrain in twenty minutes. Nick was meeting them at the restaurant to celebrate the deal he’d brokered for a new version of Du Parrain outside Jackson . . . and the fact Eden’s best friends had come to spend the weekend with her. “Is everyone ready?”
Jess looked at her bare feet. “Let me grab my new booties.”
“I got the cutest ones from Nordstrom last week,” Rosemary said, pulling Jess up from the couch but not before Jess could down her wine. It felt the way it should when they were together. Comfortable. Like home.
“Nick’s sending the car.” Eden glanced at the time on her cell phone. “Hurry.”
Jess disappeared and came back holding a seriously cute pair of shoes. “I’m ready.”
Minutes later, the three women stepped out onto the still-shabby balcony and into the dying New Orleans evening. Gold light fell against the worn building next to the apartment complex, and the still-green banana plants swayed in a faint breeze that smelled of the river.
A somewhat intoxicating and slightly nauseous scent that was New Orleans settled around them as Rosemary linked her fingers through Eden’s. “Happy now, Eden?”
Eden squeezed Rosemary’s hand and lifted Jess’s in her other. “Supremely happy.”
“Lacy did good, didn’t she?” Jess said, staring out into the courtyard, which had taken on a magical softness.
“She did,” Rosemary agreed.
At that moment a gust of wind blew past them and made the bamboo wind chimes someone had hung in the scraggly tree on the edge of the aged brick walkway clink merrily. The chimes were only a few feet away, close enough to reach out and touch.
Eden laughed. “Of course.”
The three of them exchanged bemused looks.
“She always liked having the last word,” Jess said.
Rosemary gave a light laugh. “Let her have it. She gave us each other, and she gave us love. Lacy gets the last word.”
As they turned and made their way down the wrought iron steps, the bamboo chimes clanked again, a reminder that love did indeed win . . . at least for the girls of Morning Glory.
To find more information on Liz Talley and the Morning Glory series, visit www.liztalleybooks.com/category/books. Also, don’t forget to visit her website to sign up for the newsletter at www.liztalleybooks.com, and as always, reviews of the book are much appreciated.
Other books in the series:
Charmingly Yours
Perfectly Charming
Prince Not Quite Charming
All That Charm
Third Time’s the Charm (coming 2018)
A Charming Little Christmas (coming late 2017)
A finalist in both RWA’s prestigious Golden Heart and RITA contests, Liz Talley loves staying home in her jammies and writing emotional contemporary romance. Her first book starred a spinster librarian – Vegas Two Step – and debuted in June 2010. Since that time, Liz has published twenty-one books with Harlequin, Berkeley and Montlake, reaching number one in kindle romance with her latest series. Her stories are set in the South where the tea is sweet, the summers are hot, and the men are hotter. Liz lives in Louisiana with her childhood sweetheart, two handsome children, three dogs and a temperamental kitty. You can visit Liz at www.liztalleybooks.com or follow her on twitter or Facebook to learn more about her upcoming books.
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